I’m writing a series on forgotten tech products, and I need your help. There’s an alternative Windows shell that Microsoft was developing over ten years ago, and it seems to have disappeared off the face of the Earth.
I can only recall scant details myself, not even the name of the project. If anything below rings a bell, please don’t hesitate to reply.
- It was an alternate Windows shell for entertainment use.
- It was meant for use on a TV or large monitor with a remote control. (This was not the Entertainment Center UI.)
- This was before the launch of Windows 98.
- There was documentation at MSDN with screenshots.
- It had a black Start menu where all the options were numbered for use with a remote.
- A black taskbar existed for decoration. It didn’t contain running apps, and would only appear when the Start button was pressed on a remote.
- Primary intended uses were TV viewing and playing CDs. PVR, DVD and MP3 functionality weren’t around yet.
- Standard Windows apps would run fullscreen with the title and menu bars hidden. A Menu button made them appear.
- The intended resolution was 640×480.
Here’s the only bit of information I’ve found to show this thing actually existed: a Microsoft press release touting an interface “optimized for distance viewing and display on large-screen devices such as a VGA monitor or television”.